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In Kochel: Ukrainian Children's Choir of Hope

2022-06-19T16:41:23.646Z


With performances in the "Heimatbühne" and on the Ufermarkt, a small Ukrainian children's choir in Kochel recently conquered the hearts of the listeners. The girls and one boy involved, as well as the choir director, fled from the war in their homeland. Music is an important support for everyone in dark times.


With performances in the "Heimatbühne" and on the Ufermarkt, a small Ukrainian children's choir in Kochel recently conquered the hearts of the listeners.

The girls and one boy involved, as well as the choir director, fled from the war in their homeland.

Music is an important support for everyone in dark times.

Kochel am See

– It was only three months ago that a very special children's choir was founded in Kochel.

Nevertheless, the girls and one boy have managed to inspire and deeply move their listeners at several performances.

On the one hand, this is due to the committed and harmonious singing performance of the five to twelve-year-olds, but on the other hand it is also due to the history of the choir.

Because almost all the children who make music together here fled the war in Ukraine.

The founder and director of the choir, the music teacher Tetiana Vysokolian, also had to leave her homeland after Russia launched a war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24.

Giving children lessons in singing, dancing, playing the piano and accordion: that was the work that the trained music teacher pursued in Kyiv, “with body and soul”, as she says.

In a competition she took second place among the best music teachers in the Ukrainian capital.

She went to competitions abroad with the ensembles she taught.

When the war broke out, she initially had no intention of fleeing, she reports.

Then she experienced how bombs fell on Kyiv, how she and her family had to flee to the shelter when the siren sounded, how scared her five-year-old daughter was.

"I had to protect her," says Tetiana Vysokolian.

She first sought refuge in western Ukraine, taking her sick mother-in-law with her.

When she no longer felt safe there either, she decided to leave Ukraine for Germany.

Because her husband has an uncle in Bad Tölz, her path led to the district.

Gratitude for helpful people

Kochel, where she now lives, is a "fantastic, quiet place with beautiful nature," she says.

The view of the surrounding mountains reminds her of the Carpathians, she says.

"The same good air." Tetiana Vysokolian emphasizes that she is very grateful to the people who welcomed her here so helpfully.

The music teacher very quickly felt the urge to pursue her calling here as well.

She invited Ukrainian children, who had also found refuge in Kochel with their mothers, to found a choir.

The offer fell on fertile ground.

The children were immediately enthusiastic.

In addition to Kyiv, they come from Lugansk, Cherson, Odessa, Kyiv and Donetsk, for example, Tetiana Vysokolian lists city names that most Germans probably only became familiar with from the war reports.

Tetiana Vysokolian feels the horror of war in the children's bones.

“During the talks, the questions keep coming up: When will the war be over?

When can we go home again?

When will we see our father, grandpa and other relatives again?” she says.

She sees singing as an important distraction, something that brings joy to the children's everyday lives.

For their families and themselves, too, the choir is a support in a depressing situation.

"Everyone is very concerned about their husbands and other family members," says Tetiana Vysokolian.

You haven't heard from your mother for a long time.

"She lives near Mariupol, in an area now under Russian control."

She asked the children what they would like to sing.

"I expected her choice to be something happy, fun," she says.

"But they wanted to sing something serious, songs about the war and the wish for peace to return home."

Singing for seniors was 'a great feeling'

The small choir practices three times a week – there are currently ten children – now with Tetiana Vysokolian.

"Some people ask me: Can't we come to you every day?" reports the woman from Kiev.

"But I also need time to learn German and to be there for my daughter."

However, since the first meeting on March 20th, the choir has made great progress.

Before that, very few of the children would have ever sung.

In the meantime, they have already completed some much applauded performances.

The choir sang at an evening for refugees and helpers in the "Heimatbühne" and enriched the Kochler Ufermarkt with their performances.

The choir has also been a guest at the senior center in Schlehdorf.

"The residents were enthusiastic, it was a happy event in their everyday life," says the choir director proudly.

And the children would have been very happy too.

"They said: We can't sing for our grandmothers and grandfathers, that's why we introduced ourselves, they hear us, and that was a great feeling."

Everyone would be very happy about the chance to perform further, for example in Bad Tölz, says the choir director.

An acquaintance, who returned to Kyiv for a short time, had her bring her traditional Ukrainian clothing with the money she had donated, so that the children could present themselves on stage in a uniform appearance.

As soon as she speaks German better herself, she would like to combine the cultures of her homeland and her place of refuge in the choir, for example rehearsing songs half in Ukrainian and half in German, says Tetiana Vysokolian.

Her great wish is to earn her living as a music teacher in Germany as well.

But first of all, the next choir guest performance needs to be prepared: at a day of action on July 8th at the primary school in Kochel.

You can find more current news from the region around Bad Tölz at Merkur.de/Bad Tölz.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-06-19

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